My 3 year old was potty trained in a couple of days but never quite got pooping on the potty. He has done it but I have to catch him and throw him on the potty. This has been going on for MONTHS. He says he doesn't know how. He often times holds it until he gets in the tub and goes then. I have tried everything, I read not to get angry but its getting very hard. If I try to get him to just sit and push he freaks out. I would have to muscle him on and hold him down. Any other suggestions?
My daughter was like that until one day she said she had to poo...so i sat her on the potty and she said I can't....I said honey its just like peeing only it comes out the other end LOL
After that she was done and never turned back :) Good Luck!
This is an awfully long time ago for you to remember, but pooping sitting down is a lot different from pooping standing up. The muscles used are different and it feels different.
He will not graduate college pooping in diapers. He'll figure it out. Leave him in diapers (or let him have one on)until he's figured it out.
There are no prizes for the 35yo who learned to poop on the potty first.
Gotta change the way YOU think... :-) I don't count a kid as being potty trainED until they have both down pat and have no accidents for a month. Until then, they are still TRAINING...
Most boys don't get the whole picture until they are closer to 4...
I know about the stress! Hubby wanted me to "train" our very stubborn almost 3 yr old before his little brother was born... After a week I told him to forget that idea and I wasn't gonna stress myself out over it. We would just have 2 kids in diapers for a while... He will be 6 this summer and hasn't had an accident in years. :-) They do get it...
Now that we are expecting again in spring I am not even trying to get out almost 3 yr old to train. He has no interest past just sitting on the seat and getting up. I'm not gonna stress over it.
I would just relax, and one day soon you will realize that you havn't had to clean him up for a while... That he's getting more consistant on the potty and there was nothing YOU did that made him that way. lol There is a light at the end of the tunnel...
As you said... There really is no way short of torture to "force" it... So accept that its gonna happen and go with it.
Whatever you do, don't get into a big battle over this because you will only make it stronger and longer. He wants to be in charge at this age. He's getting something out of this struggle. I'd treat it as lightly as possible and emphasize his big boy status in various other ways while also meeting his need to be babied and cuddled. Having a tiny baby is likely part of the problem, but that's life. Lots of verbal reassurances about how important he is to you should help him adjust.
Sometimes they REALLY can't feel it until they are going. My son is 5.5 and still has trouble, we are going to a doctor about it, BUT I had to be OK with the mess. It is not his fault and he will learn. Your son will get it WAY before my son, don't worry. As another lady said, you are still training him, so take a deep breath and tell him it goes in the potty and then dump it in (if it will come out of his underwear/pull-up). When you see "that look" on his face rush him in and when he goes be excited about it. Soon he will get it on his own. You can do it!!!
Hi S.,
Sounds like you've been at this for awhile now and I can understand your frustration. I have a strong-willed 4 year old boy that was completely potty trained months before he was 3. I had tried earlier attempts because I knew he was ready but they didn't stick- rewarding with stickers, emphasizing the big boy status and big boy underwear, reading the potty books together, etc. It came down to him just not caring enough to want to do it and it didn't matter how much encouragement he got, he just didn't care or want to. Oh, and this is the kind of boy that laughed when he peed himself in his big boy underwear the first time! (why that is funny-only boys know!) So...I took all of his clothes off and let him go naked. I know it sounds a bit extreme but I was getting desperate. I figured if he had to pee/poop, he would figure out really quick that it was much better to put it in the potty than the alternative. I'm not kidding, he peed down his leg and on the floor ONE TIME and that was it. He went from peeing/pooping in diapers to being completely potty trained in ONE day! He was actually going into the bathroom and climbing on the potty when he had to go all on his own that same day. Of course, we made a huge deal out of it and he was SO proud of himself. I truly think that by being naked it took away his "crutch" and made him really think about feeling the urge to go pee and poop, and where it needed to go. If you think your son really does know when he needs to go and is just resisting, maybe this might be something to try?
As hard as it is to not get frustrated, don't worry, it will come together. All kids develop at their own pace and take different methods. I don't know many grown-ups that aren't potty trained- it will happen!
